3-D-Printed Gun Blueprints Were Posted by a Gun Rights Group

We’ve seen 3-D printers used to make a number of different products, from mascara to lipstick to an entire house. But these machines are now being realized for a different capability: Printing plastic handguns.

A site run by Texas nonprofit Defense Distributed planned to publicly post blueprints for how to build a gun called the Liberator, and several other firearms, including ones similar to an AR-15, until a federal judge in Seattle granted a temporary nationwide restraining order on July 31, which was intended to prevent the plans from being released, according to the Washington Post.

Despite that judge’s ruling, NBC News reported on August 1, Code Is Free Speech, a coalition of five West Coast gun rights groups, posted the plans, claiming the publication was protected on First Amendment free speech grounds.

Plastic guns are created in the same manner as anything that is printed in 3-D: The machine stacks layers of material to form an object. But guns made by 3-D printers have a particular risk factor — they’re untraceable. CNN reported that these guns are called “ghost guns,” because they have no serial number and require no background check to possess.

Back in 2013, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson posted a video of him firing the Liberator — all plastic and 3-D-printed, save for a metal firing pin — and uploaded the plans online. According to CNN, he was served with a cease-and-desist order from the U.S. State Department a few days later; the State Department argued that Wilson's plans may have violated International Traffic in Arms Regulations because he released the information to people outside the U.S.

In June, Wilson came to a settlement with the Trump administration that implied he would be able to post his plans, according to The Verge. Nine attorneys general disagreed, calling the settlement “unconstitutional.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) tried to pass last-minute legislation blocking the publication, saying, "American national security is going to be irreversibly weakened because of the actions of the administration." His effort was blocked by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who raised First Amendment concerns, according to the Sentinel.

Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said that even though one may be able to publish blueprints, it is still “unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer or receive an undetectable firearm.” Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley echoed this sentiment, saying that owning any gun made completely of plastic is illegal.

3-D printers are typically expensive, but come in a variety of prices ranges, as documented by All3DP. The proliferation of blueprints increases the possibility of an illegal and untraceable production of 3-D-printed firearms, which could be created by anyone with the means, regardless of their background or intention.

A lawyer for Wilson criticized the restraining order as a violation of his First Amendment rights. According to NBC News, Defense Distributed was not responsible for the publication on Tuesday and had agreed not to post the documents, pending court rulings.

In a statement, New York attorney general Barbara Underwood criticized the Trump administration's earlier settlement with Defense Distributed, saying, “It is...crazy to give criminals the tools to build untraceable, undetectable 3-D printed guns at the touch of a button.”